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A Columbus architectural firm is suing Ohio State University for terminating its design contract for the proposed $1 billion OSU Medical Center expansion.

Karlsberger Architecture filed the lawsuit Nov. 13 against the university and its board of trustees in the Ohio Court of Claims, asking the court to reinstate the $32 million contract.

The university hasn't provided a reason for the termination, said Cary Purcell, an attorney for Karlsberger.

"They won't respond to requests to explain why or who made the decision," he said.

In a response filed with the court yesterday, the Ohio attorney general's office said the university had a right, under the contract, to terminate the agreement without cause.

An OSU spokesman said the termination was "based solely upon business reasons" and that the university has paid Karlsberger for its work to date.

"We understand that the company is upset with our decision, but the university felt that it needed to have the best team in place for a project of this magnitude," spokesman Jim Lynch said in an e-mail to The Dispatch yesterday.

If permitted to move forward, the lawsuit threatens to delay design work necessary to begin construction in 2010, according to the state's response.

Ohio State chose Karlsberger in September 2008 as associate architect and architect of record for the project to create a 1 million-square-foot cancer and critical-care facility on campus.

The lawsuit says Karlsberger spent the past year working with HOK, the master planning and design architect, and Turner Construction, construction manager.

But Purcell said Karlsberger officials were asked to voluntarily terminate the contract during a meeting on Sept. 30 with Jay Kasey, chief operating officer for the hospital system.

Karlsberger refused, and received a "notice of termination without cause" from the university on Nov. 4. One day later, the university began seeking requests for qualifications from firms interested in taking over the job.

The breach-of-contract lawsuit contends that a committee appointed by the board of trustees to oversee the project made decisions "in nonpublic, secretly scheduled meetings" in violation of Ohio's open-meetings act.

The board of trustees two months ago gave funding approval for the expansion, which will feature a 17-story tower and is expected to create up to 10,000 jobs.

Karlsberger specializes in designing medical facilities. Its local projects include Dublin Methodist Hospital and the McConnell Heart Hospital at Riverside Methodist Hospital.